Ted Cruz just ran out the clock!!!

[superduty]

I think it was designed to fail. That way, when people are hurting the most, the government can swoop in and "fix" it with a single-payer system. It's what they really wanted in the first place anyway.

 

Well, the ACA is very close to that.

Socialized medicine.

 

It's not what it's cracked up to be.

 

The .gov does so well with Medicare and Medicaid, what can go wrong?

 

BTW, they just cut funds for fraud analytics in their programs, it was announced today.  If you are surprised or interested, PM me and I'll send you a link.

 

 

BTW, do you  know what the ACA will add to the deficit?  Mind numbingly stupid-  "'Fundamentally transform America". 

 

We are well on our way, my friends.

[Wingshooter]

A pretty good write up on where everything stands right now for anyone left scratching their head:

Here's What The Next Steps In The Government Shutdown Fight Are, And Why Ted Cruz Voted 'Yes' Today

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-ted-cruz-obamacare-senate-filibuster-cloture-2013-9#ixzz2fxvviEVK

In a rare moment for the United States Senate, the "world's greatest deliberative body" has voted, unanimously, on something.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted 100-0 on the motion to proceed to debate the House of Representatives-passed continuing resolution to keep the government funded. The vote came about an hour after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) finished his 21-plus-hour speech in opposition to including Obamacare funding in the continuing resolution.

Cruz, along with every other Republican senator that accompanied him on the floor during his speech, voted in favor of invoking cloture on the motion to proceed.

This sounds confusing — after all, Cruz just spent nearly an entire day railing against passage of the bill. But this was Cruz's plan all along. He opposes invoking cloture to end debate on the bill — that vote will come either Friday or Saturday.

Here's what Cruz said on the Senate floor Tuesday (emphasis added):

"The central vote the Senate will take on this fight will not occur today and it will not occur tomorrow. The first vote we are going to take on this is a vote on what is called cloture on the motion to proceed. Very few people not on this floor have any idea what that means and even, I suspect, a fair number of people on this floor are not quite sure what that means. That will simply be a vote whether to take up this bill and to begin debating this bill. I expect that vote to pass overwhelmingly, if not unanimously. Everyone agrees we ought to take this up, we ought to start this conversation.

The next vote we take will occur on Friday or Saturday and it will be on what is called cloture on the bill. That is the vote that matters. Cloture on the bill, the vote Friday or Saturday, is the vote that matters.

Because the cloture vote has now passed, there's now a 30-hour shot clock in the Senate that allows for debate on the bill.

Cruz signaled a willingness on Wednesday to accelerate parliamentary procedure so that the Senate could hold that all-important vote — on cloture to end debate — on Friday, so that more people would be paying attention.

This is the vote that "matters" — and it's also where things will get awkward. At this point, the bill will still have the House language that strips funding for Obamacare, which is what conservatives have pressed for all summer.

At the same time, Cruz and other conservatives realize that Senate rules make it possible for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to introduce his amendment stripping the language that defunds Obamacare. And he will only need a majority vote for the amendment to pass.

Republicans' choice, then, is to either filibuster the bill that includes the language they wanted — and essentially endorse a government shutdown — or to essentially allow Reid to be able to introduce the amendment and strip the language.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-ted-cruz-obamacare-senate-filibuster-cloture-2013-9#ixzz2fxvFLlte

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Made more of a name for himself, pleased the far right base, alienated more than he attracted, as did Rand with his own previous "'buster".

 

Polls aren't showing favorable for this entire "hostage" action on the part of the House either. 'Course, with like a ~10% favorable rating on the Congress overall, doesn't much matter I guess.

 

Hi OS

 

You may be right, tis difficult for me to judge such thangs.

 

Given that the recent Gallup poll showing that nowadays 6 of 10 citizens believe that the government is too powerful, it would be easy to conclude that more people would appreciate any action promising to make the gov less powerful, compared to the number of people mad that congress "can't get anything done". The majority would maybe conclude the problem is that congress is getting too much done, and any squabbling or gridlock would be a good thing.

 

But that requires some faith in people being logical about it.

 

I recall reading, back in the times of the USSR, that if something was messed up, the citizens would get mad at the government, because they expected the authorities to take charge and fix the problem. Get things done. Be a shame if the majority of USA sheeple have the same attitude.

 

edit-- Another survey showing about the same numbers-- http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/september_2013/63_believe_most_americans_want_government_to_have_less_power_and_money
 

Most Americans continue to believe politicians want more power and money for the government while their fellow citizens want the opposite. Sixty-three percent (63%) of Adults nationwide believe most Americans want the government to have less power and money, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey. Just 18% believe their fellow Americans want the government to have more power and money. Nine percent (9%) think they want things to remain about the same.

Edited September 26, 2013 by Lester Weevils